Railway-track layer.



PATENTED NOV. 24, 1908 W. B. MICHEL. RAILWAY TRACK LAYER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. a1, 1903.

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No. 744,870. PATENTED NOV. 24, 1908. W. B. MICHEL.

RAILWAY'TRAGK LAYER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 81, 1903.

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SEECIFIGATION forming part of Letters l atent No. 744,870, dated November 24, 1903. Application filed August 31, 1903. Serial No. 171,414. (No model.)

To rtZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM BERNARD MICHEL,a citizen of the United States,residing at Willowsprings, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Track Layers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention comprises particularly an apparatus to be used in connection with steam shovels or excavators for moving and laying the track upon which the shovel is to travel.

The object of the invention is to produce an improved track-laying attachment for such excavators which will convey sections of the track from the rear to the front, or vice versa.

The invention is particularly characterized by the fact that the apparatus will lift and carry a whole section of track without taking the track apart, thus affording a most rapid and labor-saving apparatus.

Minor improvements in construction and arrangement will be apparent from the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan view of the apparatus, parts of the steam-shovel being indicated in outline; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Speaking generally, the device comprises a track extending around one side of the car or body of the steamshovel from one end to the other. This track is supported and spaced outwardly from the car a sufficient distance to allow the main traok-seotion, rails, and ties to pass beside the car, and a hanger rolls on the said track, carrying the track-section from one end of the car to the other.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the car of the excavator or shovel is indicated at 1, the shovel-boom at 2, and the floor-beams of the car at 3.

At 4 is indicated a boom projecting from the rear end of the car and supported by stayrods 9, connected to the car-body.

The track 5, upon which the railway-sections are carried, is supported at its front and rear ends by connecting-rods 7 and 8, depending from the booms 2 and 4- at the median line of the car, and from. these points the said track is curved outwardly or sidewise, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, to bring it a sufficient distance beyond the side of the car to afford a clear way for the passage of the railway-section. The track is supported in this position by braces 6, projecting from the carbeams.

The railway track-sections are indicated at 18, comprising rails and ties securely fastened together. The length of a section is preferably somewhat greater than the wheel-base of the car of the excavator; but this is not essential, as the sections can be made of any length desired. Each section has at or about the middle thereof a set of four eyebolts,

, (shown at 20,) which take chains 17, whereby the section is suspended from a piston-rod with hook 19, the piston of which works in a cylinder 19., hung from a roller-hanger 16, the roller of which travels on the track 5. The

cylinder may conveniently be connected byflexible hose-pipe to the boiler or pump of the steam-shovel and the lifting power obtained by steam or water pressure, the pipe being of sufficient length to permit the necessary travel of the hanger. It is evident that different lifting means may be provided by the exercise of mechanical skill-such, for example, as a tackle arrangement connected to the winding-drum of the steam-shovel. I prefer, however, the cylinder apparatus described without in any way limiting my invention thereto.

When the track-laying device is not in use, the front section of the track 5 and the conmeeting-rod 7are removed to permit the usual operation of the steam-shovel.

In use in track-laying the hanger 16 is run to the end of the track over the railway-section to be moved and the chains connected to the eyebolts of the section. By means of the lifting device the railway-section as a whole is raised and then can be pushed to the other end of the car, in which position it is laid and connected with the standing section of the track. Two sections of track will thus be sufficient to permit the excavator to lay its own railway and to be moved backward or forward, as desired.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- l 1. The combination with a car, of a track supported on and extending beside the car from front to rear thereof, a traveling hanger on the track, and means carried by the car to lift and suspend a railway track-section from the hanger.

2. The combination with two railway tracksections, of a car supported on one section, and means carried by the car to lift the other sec tion as a Whole, at one end of the car, and carry it beside the car to the other end.

The combination with a car having booms projecting at front and rear thereof, of a track hung at its ends from said booms and extending beside the car, and a traveling hanger on the track, adapted to carry a railway-section from one end of the car to the other.

WILLIAM BERNARD MICHEL.

Witnesses:

JOEL D. HUBBARD, M. VAUGHAN. 

